Forbes has ranked Pomona College in second place overall in its annual list of America’s Top 100 Colleges, up from 9th place last year.

Forbes has deemed Pomona, the oldest school among The Claremont Colleges, to be the second best school in the west and the second best among private colleges in the United States. 

Forbes’ rankings of 650 colleges and universities are based on return-on-investment, criteria such as tuition costs, the likelihood of graduating in 4 years, post-graduation employment potential and the average amount of student debt.

With Stanford University ranking number-one, 2013 marks the first time that Forbes has selected 2 non-Ivy League colleges to top its list.

In an interview with KNX 1070 news radio, Pomona College president David Oxtoby expressed that administrators and staffers are surprised but delighted at Pomona’s placement. He attributes the rising star of the college, which has a little more than 1,500 undergraduate students, to its unique academic environment.

“Being small, we have very close relationships between faculty and students,” Mr. Oxtoby said. “We have students involved in research from day one, we have small discussion-based classes, we have out-of-classroom opportunities.”

To see the full Forbes “America’s Top Colleges” list, visit http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list